1,455 death penalties in 10 years

New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) A total of 1,455 convicts were handed out death sentence in the past 10 years which amounts to one such penalty awarded every three days by the country's courts, a rights panel said Thursday, quoting official documents.

"As per the records of the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB), a total of 1,455 convicts or an average of 132.27 convicts per year were given death penalty during 2001 to 2011," said Suhas Chakma, director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights.

The NGO (non-government organisation) compiled its report "The State of Death Penalty in India" 2013 referring to the NCRB data. It stated that Uttar Pradesh topped the list of states, where 370 convicts were given capital punishment.

While Uttar Pradesh was followed by Bihar with 132 death penalties, in Maharashtra the number was 125 from 2001 to 2011. The national capital had 71 convicts who were awarded capital punishment, said the report.

In the northeastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim and union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep, no death penalty was imposed.

However, according to the report, death sentences of 4,321 people were commuted to life imprisonment with the highest number of commutation in Delhi, 2,462 followed by Uttar Pradesh with 458.

It was Jammu and Kashmir, where only 18 people were spared a walk to the gallows.